


An Unexpected Love

by embracethedinosaurs



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Evil lesbians, F/F, Power Couple, Rare Pair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:29:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26152699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embracethedinosaurs/pseuds/embracethedinosaurs
Summary: What if Diana Sydney’s drop ship hadn’t crashed and landed in Azgeda instead?
Relationships: Nia | Ice Queen/Diana Sydney
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	An Unexpected Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Veridissima](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veridissima/gifts).



> This is a (late) birthday fic dedicated to my absolutely amazing friend, Joana:lover of obscure characters and even more obscure ships. This pair was certainly out of my comfort zone.
> 
> Jo, I am so grateful to have you in my life and I really hope you enjoy this fic!!!

* * *

For one of the first times, Diana Sydney’s life did not go perfectly according to plan. 

The bomb had gone off, as planned. They’d been able to take the exodus ship, as planned. And even Abby Griffin had been on the ship like she’d wanted. 

But the launch had been too early. Diana didn’t care much about the rest of the Ark, they would die soon anyways, however it meant that they didn’t land where they’d wanted to. 

She had wanted to be by the kids. With the exception of Dr. Griffin’s daughter and perhaps a few others, she figured she could get them to follow her easily. They’d been shunned and cast aside by the Ark council after all, just like many of her people. And it didn’t hurt that a lot of their families were with her. 

Less people to help build a new society was an inconvenience sure, but the location could have been completely manageable, if it weren’t for the Ice Nation. 

They’d landed northwest of the kids, in what was probably farmland a hundred years ago. Barns and farmhouses were overgrown with weeds and she could spot the corpses of old tractors. That was a good sign, if it was farmland once she’d hoped it would still be good for growing crops now. 

As the logical part of her had taken all this in, the rest of her marveled at just being on earth. The sun was so bright, and the sky was so blue. And the air, it was so sweet and fresh and Diana hadn’t been able to stop the smile that overtook her face.

That smile didn’t last long, however, because just as the rest of her people were stepping out of the drop ship, they were attacked. 

A blunt tipped arrow in the leg sent Diana to the ground with a cry of pain, and moments later, the rest of her people met a similar fate. A hundred or so warriors surrounded them, weapons drawn. They all were carrying bows and swords. She was sure they could have taken them with their guns but, in their foolish excitement, they’d left them on the top floor of the drop ship. 

“Skaikru!” she heard one of the warriors say, followed by shushing noises. 

One of the warriors stepped forward. From the many medals displayed on a red sash, she could tell he was obviously a leader. 

“You’re trespassing on Ice Nation territory,” he said, simply.

“Ice nation?” scoffed Cuyler Ridley. “I don’t see any ice.” Diana has the strong urge to hit him. What fool would deliberately antagonize the enemy when they clearly had the advantage?

Thankfully, the man didn’t seem too offended. “It’s early October,” he scoffed. “There’s rarely ice this time of year. Do you Skaikru _branwadas_ have no understanding of seasons?” Diana didn’t know what skaikru meant, nor did she know what branwada meant, but she figured the last one wasn’t anything good. “In a few months you’ll understand the name, that is, if you’re still alive by then.” He had a wicked gleam in his eyes. 

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” he continued. “You all are going to come with me to see Queen Nia and she will decide your fate. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, it’s your choice.”

One of the the men standing behind her—he was a farm station worker she was pretty sure—made a run for it. A warrior hit him on the head with the flat side of her sword and he crumpled to the floor. 

“Any more objections?” asked the leader. Diana shook her head, to indicate to her people not to try anything. They needed to be smart about this, there was no way they’d be able to escape now, but maybe later…

The warriors grabbed them roughly, tied up their hands with crude, itchy rope. 

They walked along a huge highway—filled with cracks and wear from lack of maintenance, with horse and foot traffic traveling in either direction. Everyone they passed gawked at them, speaking in a language Diana didn’t understand or recognize. For two days, they barely stopped to rest. Diana’s feet hurt more than they ever had in her life and if it weren’t for the spear-brandishing warrior behind her, she was sure she would have fallen asleep walking several times

They warriors had spread the Arkers out (to prevent them from talking or trying to plot an escape, presumably) and so Diana tried to pass the time by reading the blue and green signs littering polls over highway and around it. Most were too faded or cracked to read properly, but Diana could make out the number 401 over and over as well as a few place names—Woodstock, Kitchener, Milton. 

After about a day and a half of walking, they started to see farms that were actually inhabited by people and more and more roads to settlements with plenty of foot traffic. This must have been a major highway before the bombs and it made sense that there were still a lot of towns and villages near it. 

Eventually, they were led into an area with taller buildings. If Diana had to guess, she’d say that only about five percent of the buildings that had once been here were still standing. And even the ones that still stood didn’t look all that sturdy. It would be a shame, she thought, to make it all the way to earth only to die because of a collapsed skyscraper. 

But thankfully, that didn’t happen, and the warriors led them into a bustling city There were still more people than Diana had ever seen, despite a good chunk of the buildings being in ruin. There were warriors walking around, merchants and vendors selling anything from swords to shirts. There was a very tall, thin tower that she was really shocked was still standing. 

“Take them into the tunnels,” she heard the leader—whose name was Sor, she learned—say. “We don’t want to cause a scene.”

They were led through a building into underground tunnels with metal tracks in them and Diana was sure they’d once been used for trains. The tunnels were clearly a classified area which was heavily guarded so most of the warriors they’d been traveling with left at that point. They followed Sor through the tunnels, passing train platform after train platform. Some of them were empty except for guards, while others had people working, sleeping, and training. 

“Which of you is the leader,” asked Sor after awhile. The arkers all looked at Diana. “Alright,” said Sor, pointing at her. “You come with me. The rest of you will be taken to a secure facility until your leader has reached a deal one way or another.”

And so Sor led Diana up out of the tunnels and onto a street. Like the rest of the city she’d seen, many of the buildings were destroyed. A vast lawn spanned next to where she and Sor were standing and there was a grand building made from a red-brown stone. A battered sign on the lawn read, “Queens park”. The closer she got to the building, the more she could see how worse for wear it was. Pedestals that contained statues long gone littered the lawn, the cement path she was on was so cracked she had to be careful not to trip, and the building itself was being held together with additional support beams that had clearly been added recently. 

Sor marched her through the middle of three archways and into the building. They walked through the foyer and down into a larger chamber. There were chairs on either side of the room, each with their own desk in front of it as well as more chairs above that in gallery’s looking down into the room. However Diana hardly noticed any of this because the end of the room there sat a woman wearing a crown in an delicately carved wooden chair. She had brands on her face, as many of their warriors seemed to have. From the expression on her face—aloof and unimpressed—to the way she was holding herself, Diana could tell that she was a woman used to power.

“Queen Nia,” said Sor, bowing. “I present you the leader of the sky people, Diana Sydney.”

“Thank you, General Sor,” said Queen Nia. Her voice was confident and a little icy. “You’re dismissed now.” 

Sor left the room hastily, leaving Diana alone with just the queen and the two guards standing on either side of her. 

“Diana of the sky people,” said the Queen after looking Diana up and down for a moment. “You and your people were trespassing on Azgeda lands.” It was a statement, not a question. “Normally Azgeda punishes trespassers with their lives, however, I believe skaikru could be of use to me. So I shall give you a chance; what do you have to say in your defence?” 

Despite the fact that the queen had just threatened to kill her, Diana found herself intrigued. She seemed logical, ruthless, and confident. Just like herself. 

“We had no intention of trespassing. We didn’t know where we were going to land, you see. We had to have an emergency launch.” Diana didn’t cower, didn’t break eye contact. It would take a lot more than wearing a crown and sitting in a fancy chair to scare her. 

“An emergency launch,” said the queen, raising an eyebrow slightly. “And why is that?”

Diana was sure that Nia could see right through lies. Besides, maybe the truth would make Nia respect her more. She seemed like someone who might be impressed with it, rather than horrified. “There weren't enough dropships,” she explained. “Some people would have been left behind. We couldn’t let that happen to us, so we stole the ship. They would have stopped us if we didn’t launch when we did. It was us or them, I’m sure you understand that.”

Nia stared at her for a long while. Diana stared right back. 

And then, the queen laughed. “I like you,” she said simply. “You’ll fit right in in Azgeda. Ruthless, cunning, putting your people first—that sounds like my kind of plan:”

“I’ll fit right in… so does that mean you won’t kill us?” asked Diana.

“Not yet,” said Nia. “I believe your people could be of use to Azgeda. We’ve been looking for ways to get the edge over Trikru for years, and your _tek_ knowledge could finally achieve that. So as long as your people don’t cause any issues, you’ll be allowed to live amongst Azgeda.” 

“Thank you,” said Diana. “I believe that this will be beneficial for both of us.” Diana hoped her people wouldn’t cause any trouble, but she wasn’t naive enough to promise that. 

“There’s just one more thing,” said Nia. “I need some assurance that your people won’t cause trouble. So I’m keeping you as an… honoured guest here in the palace.” 

“So a prisoner,” said Diana. 

“You could say it that way,” she said. “It’s political strategy, nothing personal. I’m sure you understand that.” She echoed Diana’s words back to her. 

With that, she exited the room, ornate fur cape trailing behind her. It was clear to Diana that the conversation was over.

* * *

After that first encounter, Diana hadn’t expected to ever actually enjoy the ice queens company. But in the next few days, she started to. 

It started with Nia knocking on the door of her bedroom—the accommodations were pretty nice, for a prisoner. Diana had just woken up from long sleep, completely drained from two days of walking. 

She’d asked her to write a letter to the other Arkers, explaining what was going on. 

Then it was Nia asking her to help her figure out where she should place the Arkers that would best suit their skill sets. They both agreed that the Arkers should live in the capital, at least for a while. Nia figured it would be easier to keep an eye on tand Diana didn’t much care either way. She didn’t wish the Arkers any ill will, but she had gotten to the ground and now that her livelihood wasn’t dependent on them, she didn’t care as much. 

Their meeting ended up going on much longer than expected. It gradually progressed from political discussions to personal ones: Nia told her all about Azgeda and the Azgeda capital (she promised to take Diana on a tour at some point) and Diana told her about life on the Ark.

After that, the ice queen seemed to find different excuses to visit. 

Nia had the same ruthless streak as Diana which the former chancellor found refreshing. She had a strategic mind and didn’t hesitate to do what was necessary. 

It was this shared quality, Diana guessed, that first led Nia to ask for her thoughts and ideas . She talked about her plan to get rid of the commander—someone named Lexa.. She felt a little bad helping to plot the death of a girl she didn’t know much about, but her ideas certainly made the queen happy and that was in Diana’s best interest.

And, as odd as it was to feel about a woman who’d admitted to her that she’d sent the head of her enemy’s lover to said enemy, Diana had found herself oddly fond of the ice queen. 

“Have you tried poison,” she suggested. “That’d kill her.”

“I have,” answered Nia. “Unfortunately _natblidas_ are more resistant to poison.”

“Natblidas?” 

“Nightbloods,” she translated. “Only people who have black blood can be commander. Anyone else dies in the ascension.” 

Before Diana could ask any of the dozen questions she had, they were interrupted by a guard rushing into the room.

“How dare you bother us?” spat Nia.

“Apologies your majesty, but you need to see this. There’s more Skaikru.”

Nia shot a confused—and slightly accusatory— glance at Diana. Diana sent an equally confused glance back. Nia rushed to follow the guard, Diana trailing just behind her.

Nia stopped abruptly once they were outside, causing Diana to crash into her, knocking them both of balance. Diana gripped her shoulder to stabilize herself. She’d seen Nia kill someone for less than that—a guard had the unfortunate luck to sneeze right as Nia had been passing by—but the ice queen didn’t seem to mind, or hardly even notice. 

She was too busy staring at the object falling from the sky. It was far away, but Diana could tell it was human made. It had broken apart, and was crumbling even more the further it came down. Still, Diana could recognize it. “Oh my god, they’ve brought down the ark,” she said. 

“I thought you said you were the last Skaikru,” snapped Queen Nia. 

“My apologies for not warning you that they would come down in a way I didn’t even know was possible.” Diana’s voice was laced with heavy sarcasm. Queen Nia rolled her eyes but she didn’t seem angry. 

“They look like they’re headed to trikru territory, Haiplana.” 

“Then that’s their problem.” Queen Nia turned to go back inside, indicating to Diana, who was still very much in her personal space, to follow. 

“Will your people want to join the newest skaikru?” she asked once they were alone. 

Diana scoffed. “After we left them for dead and destroyed large chunks of the ark in the process? Yeah right.”

“If they do…” she warned. “They know too much about Azgeda, well they won’t be allowed to live.”

“I understand. You might want to spread the rumour that our ship crashed, though. That’ll stop them from looking for us and causing you any trouble.”

Queen Nia smirked. “Have I mentioned I like the way you think?”

Diana smiles back. “A few times, yeah.”

* * *

Diana wasn’t sure when she stopped being Queen Nia in her mind, and just became Nia.

Maybe it was when Nia officially appointed her an advisor, saying, “I’m tired of listening to those soft hearted, weak-willed, fools.” 

Maybe it was when she—and many of the other Arkers, with weak immune systems from a life in space—got sick and Nia came to visit her. “I can’t have my best advisor dying on me because of a common cold.”

Or maybe it was during Nia’s promised tour of the capital. She’d been checking in with the rest of the arkers—they had settled in well in the month they’d been on the ground, taking their better technological understanding to help Azgeda with both weaponry and keeping buildings up. When a man came up to them. 

“You Skaikru invaders are nothing but trouble!” he yelled. “You and your tech will destroy us all!

He pointed at Diana. “And you, you're responsible for you and your people being here. Wanheda already killed the mountain and we’ll be next. I wish you all-”

Nia interrupted his yelling by stabbing him in the chest. He fell to the ground, dead.“He won’t be bothering you anymore,” she said.

“Appreciate it,” Diana smiled. “No one kills annoying men quite like you do.”

“It’s a little speciality of mine,” Nia was smiling too.

* * *

After that little incident, whispers of Wanheda seemed to follow Diana everywhere. The Skaikru girl who vanquished the mountain easily. The Commander of Death. Diana was trying to figure out who it was, but no one she asked knew anything. 

That is, until Nia called her into her chambers to ask her if she knew someone named, “Klark kom skaikru”.

“Clarke? That’s Abby Griffin’s daughter.”

“She’s also the commander of death. And I need to kill her.”

“Why?” 

“Our people believe that when you kill someone you take their power, and killing the commander of death…” 

“I see. It won’t make you any friends with the rest of Skaikru though, Clarke’s the chancellor’s daughter after all.” Diana was still shocked the Abby became chancellor and even more so that Marcus Kane was the one who made her chancellor. 

“Diana, darling, when have you ever known me to make friends?” Darling. She knew Nia had meant it jokingly but Diana liked hearing it from her to be honest. Oh god was she in love with a murderous ice queen? Oh well that was better than any of the idiots on the Ark. 

“What do you mean? Nia, darling, you're the friendliest person I’ve ever met?” She knew that calling the queen who was still technically holding her prisoner was a risk but Nia seemed happy with it. 

Both of them laughed at that. “Who needs friends, not when you’re queen.”

“What are we then?”

“Please , I think you know that we’re more than friends, or at least, we could be.”

Diana raised an eyebrow. “Nia…”

“You and I could rule the world you know, they wouldn’t know what hit them.” Nia had stepped close to her at this point, a smirk on her face and a gleam in her eye. 

“No, they would not.”

Diana leaned in. So did Nia. Their lips met in what was easily the best kiss of Diana’s life. She’d had many lovers before, but they’d all been so… boring. Not with Nia though, the kiss was powerful, electric, exhilarating. Two entities combining to create something extraordinary. It was the start of something incredible.

* * *

“Your people are arriving today remember,” said Nia, from where she was lying on their shared bed in their room on the Azgeda floor of the polis tower. 

“How could I forget? And they’re not my people,” replied Diana. She was staring out the balcony. The view was incredible. Even though the Azgeda Capital had several buildings that were as tall as the tower, Diana had been sad to learn that none of them were structurally sound enough to actually go in. “My people are azgeda.”

“Then you’ll be excited to hear about my plan.” Nia got up from the bed to stand beside Diana. She poured both of them a glass of the fancy Azgeda wine that had been sitting on the night table. 

“Oh?” she asked, turning her head to face her lover, who had casually slung an arm around her shoulders. Nia wasn’t one for public displays of affection—which suited Diana just fine—but when it was just the two of them, the Azgeda Queen was rather clingy. 

“They’ve moved some people into the mountain. Which will give us the perfect way to get in and destroy it. Echo will lure the guards away, and with the help of the last mountain man, we will destroy that place.”

“Clever, I see Emerson has finally proven himself useful. But I can’t believe you wouldn’t tell me about such an important plan,” she scoffed lovingly. “Do you not trust me?”

“Of course I do, maybe I just wanted to surprise you, that’s all.”

“You’re the worst you know that?”

“Uh huh, sure.” 

They stood like that in companionable silence for a few moments before Nia asked, “How,d it go with Roan? Are you holding up your end of the plan?”

“Have you forgotten who you’re talking to? Of course I am. Roan gave Clarke the knife, like planned, she won’t kill her of course, she clearly is into the commander, but it should draw the attention away enough for me to distract the guards and have one of our spies set a trap for Heda In her chambers.”

“I see you’ve thought this through.”

“Trust me, love, by the end of the day, Heda will be dead.” Diana gave Nia a quick peck on the lips. 

“And then the coalition will be ours.” Nia raised her glass of wine to Diana’s. “Here’s to ruling to the world.”

“To ruling the world!” Diana tapped her glass against her lovers. They both drank, content in knowing that the city they were looking down in would soon be under their control.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
